Probe into JDF begins; CJ Sereno invited

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - The House Committee on Justice will begin its probe on the Judiciary Development Fund tomorrow.

Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. said the committee has also sent an invitation to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

He said Sereno is not being pressured to appear, but can send a representative. Also invited are the Court Administrator, Finance officers, and resident auditors of the Supreme Court.

Tupas clarified the probe is not out of spite after the high court decided to declare unconstitutional some of the acts in the Disbursement Acceleration Program. Some of the allies of the administration have tagged the JDF as the judiciary’s pork.

Tupas earlier filed a resolution scrapping the JDF. In its place, he said, is a similar fund that will have to be turned over to the National Treasury. - from a report by Jon Ibanez, dzMM